Russia Honours First British Arctic Convoy, 75 Years On
British and Russian World War Two veterans gathered on Wednesday in Arkhangelsk, 75 years to the day since Britain's first Arctic convoy of military supplies steamed into the northern port. Britain's Princess Anne has been among those attending events honouring those who sailed, and the thousands who died, protecting supply convoys dispatched to aid the Soviet Union against Nazi Germany. On Aug. 31, 1941, two months after Hitler's surprise attack on his erstwhile ally prompted Josef Stalin to seek support from a beleaguered Britain, the first convoy, codenamed "Dervish", sailed into Arkhangelsk, or Archangel, after a 10-day crossing.
This Week's Top Stories
The top stories this week covered everything from a DP system failure, a facelift for a WWII torpedo boat, and some mysterious tankers off the coast of Philadelphia. The tanker Olympic Flag was carrying 650,000 barrels of Angolan crude when it dropped anchor seven miles off the coast of Delaware Bay last November. It finally left two weeks ago, but not before being joined by five other tankers. Nobody seems to know why the tankers were idling offshore that long, although experts gave a few theories (spoiler alert: none of the theories involved aliens).
Russian Markets Hit as Putin tightens Grip on Crimea
Moscow stocks fall 10 pct, rouble down 2.5 pct over war jitters. Ukraine border guards say build-up of Russian armoured vehicles near Crimea. EU ministers meet but no immediate sanctions expected. Russia took a financial hit over its military intervention in neighbouring Ukraine, with its markets and currency plunging on Monday as President Vladimir Putin's forces tightened their grip on the Russian-speaking Crimea region. The Moscow stock market fell by 10 percent and the central bank spent $10 billion of its reserves to prop up the rouble as investors took fright at escalating tensions with the West over the former Soviet republic.
Maritime Industry Loses Labor Leader Jesse M. Calhoon
The Marine Engineers’ Beneficial Association (M.E.B.A.) is sad to announce that Jesse M. Calhoon, the M.E.B.A.’s longest serving President who is widely credited with ushering the Union into the modern era, died on Tuesday October 22. He was 90 years old. Calhoon served the M.E.B.A. as a powerful and visionary leader, and a tough negotiator who employers viewed as a formidable but trustworthy adversary. His dynamic service as M.E.B.A.’s top executive and Chairman of the Board of Trustees spanned over 20 years and six U.S. Presidencies.
